Saturday, July 6, 2013

Bike MS, Part 2: Under the Rainbow

Sunday, June 30 - The day begins abruptly with a knock on my hotel room door. I roll out of bed and glance at the clock, which reads 4:15 am. Aaack! The alarm (which I had set for 3:45) did not go off, and we're supposed to be leaving right now. Should have used my phone instead - let this be a lesson to me.

Luckily I am packed and ready to go. I throw off my pajamas and struggle madly into my cycling gear. Scooping up helmet and backpack, I'm out the door in record time.

Downstairs the hotel has set out drinks, yoghurt, and hard-boiled eggs for the early-rising cyclists. I grab an egg and wolf it down, along with my leftover pasta from the night before. As we walk through the dark to the shuttle pick-up point I drink an entire bottle of water and reflect uneasily that I'm already behind on hydration - will just have to make the best of it.

While waiting for the shuttle, rain begins to fall. Snowcatcher tells me that thunderstorms are forecast for the early afternoon, and we'd best do the shorter 60-mile ride today if we want to avoid some potentially nasty weather. (This is fine by me - my leg is still hurting, and the saddle sore has shown only marginal improvement overnight.)

We arrive at the campus and collect our bikes. The clouds are rosy pink with sunrise, and a full rainbow appears overhead:

A happy omen for the day.

Lizard and Snowcatcher kindly lube Iris's chain...

...then we're off on the second leg of our journey. The Lizard rides with us for the first few miles until our routes diverge (he is doing the longer 73-mile ride).

Snowcatcher sets a good pace, and soon I am several hundred yards back. The rain has stopped, and my shadow appears far off in a field to my right:

Over my shoulder is another rainbow:

I call Snowcatcher, but she's too far ahead to hear me. I kick up the gears and pile on the steam so as to catch her and make sure she sees this second rainbow. My tires spinning on the wet road throw droplets and gravel up my backside.

Soon after I catch up to Snowcatcher, there's a telltale "pfft" and I look down to see that my rear tire has gone flat. (Dang!)

What should be a simple operation (rolling the tire off the rim)...

Photo courtesy of Snowcatcher

...proves unexpectedly difficult due to the fresh glue, which doesn't want to let go. (My tires are tubulars, or "sew-ups", and are cemented to the rim.) The glue stretches here and there, but I can't thoroughly break the bead.

Photo courtesy of Snowcatcher

But help is soon at hand, in the form of a Colorado State Patrolman. His hands are larger (and stronger) than mine, and in no time at all the flat tire is off and the new one being stretched on.

Photo courtesy of Snowcatcher

My hero! :)

Photo courtesy of Snowcatcher

And we're off again, headed for the first rest stop.

A third rainbow floats faintly over the hills ahead (look for it just over the four signposts):

We pass beautiful amber waves of grain...

...and are soon at the first rest stop, where my first visit is to the bike support tent to get my fresh tire fully pumped up with air.

Gluten-free goodies there make me think of my sister:

Suddenly a FOURTH rainbow appears! This is our lucky day. :)

Watered and fed and pumped up, we take off for the next rest stop. Along the way, an unprecedented fifth rainbow appears in the sky. What a morning!

Snowcatcher chasing the rainbow

My fresh tire has now developed an ominous thunking sound with every revolution. I stop several times to check that the brakes are aligned and that nothing is impeding the wheel, but can't find the problem. There's nothing to do but head for the next rest stop where expert help will be available.

The views continue to be lovely...

...and we reach the second rest stop, my tire going thunka-thunka-thunka all the way. I call Mr. M to ask his advice, and he immediately produces several possible reasons for the noise, ranging from a misaligned valve stem (least dreadful, and easily fixed) to a popped thread inside the tire (most dreadful, and possibly dangerous as it could lead to the tire exploding at speed).

We wheel Iris up to the bike support tent (and I use this term VERY loosely), where I explain my predicament to the volunteer.

"We don't work on sew-ups," is his reply.

!!!!!

"Do you think it's popped a thread?" I ask. "Can you at least tell me that?"

To give him credit, he looks at the tire and says he doesn't see any signs of it, though he does notice a bulge near the valve stem. Having conceded this much, he more or less washes his hands of us - so we wheel the bike to the side to do the best we can on our own.

Iris is flipped over, and (after a few struggles) her rear wheel removed.

Photo courtesy of Snowcatcher

The valve stem is just slightly cockeyed, so we deflate the tire, remove it from the rim, then carefully put it back, trying to keep the valve stem perfectly upright.

It's cockeyed again, so we try again, without success. Finally Snowcatcher suggests cocking it in the other direction before we put the tire on - this may even things up.

Her suggestion works! We pump up the tire, the valve stem at the proper angle at last. With the help of a friendly bystander, we get the wheel back on. By this time my legs are speckled with dirt and my hands absolutely black with grease. I clean them as best I can (which isn't enough for me)...

This is AFTER cleaning....

...then we're back on the road. The thunking sound is gone (hooray! we fixed it!) and I'm ready to pick up the pace.

On this leg of the ride I discover an unsuspected streak of competitiveness in myself. Every time a faster group passes me, I want to catch up to them and follow along - and several times I do.

Paceline!

It's an amazing feeling for this pudgy 50-year-old Wisconsin housewife, to be racing along in top gear on a 28-year-old bike, keeping up with guys that are in much better practice than I am. What a kick! Who cares if my leg is sore and I can't find a comfortable sitting position? The day is beautiful and the mountains are smiling at me.

But I can definitely relate to this team's name:

We roll through some gorgeous countryside:

And before we know it we've reached Rest Stop 4. It's time for lunch.

Salty and sweet:

A carb-loaded plate rests on grease-speckled legs:

Tallulah takes a nibble of summer squash:

Another cyclist walks by, needing the help of a cane and his wife's hand:

"I Ride with MS"

THIS is why we're riding.

Lunch time over, we hit the road with hundreds of others.

The ever-helpful and friendly State Patrol watches over an intersection:

At Rest Stop 5, we eat ruby-red plums...

...and don leis to celebrate the nearness of journey's end. (Purple for me, of course, and pink for Snowcatcher. We are nothing if not coordinated.)

Skies become cloudy and lowering on the last leg of our ride. There's thunder in the distance, and veils of rain over the mountains.

The air is close and warm as we climb the last long grade; medics wait at the top with bottles of water for anyone who needs it. A few miles and a few climbs more, and we reach the finish line, where crowds cheer all the finishers through, and medals are handed out.

Whew! Time for some ice cream and dinner....

Totally organic :)

Rested and fed, our plates and utensils properly disposed of (this is a no-waste ride)...

...we head back to the truck to load up the bikes for the drive back to Snowcatcher's house.

(When we get there, I am drooping with fatigue, but Snowcatcher is fresh as a daisy. "Let's dye some yarn!" she says ... so we do. Photos to appear in another blog post.)

Fatigue and pain aside, this has definitely been the best ride of my life. :)

~ ~ ~

It's Saturday July 6 as I write these words, and hard to believe that nearly a week has passed since we finished Bike MS. Iris and I arrived home safely, to be reabsorbed immediately in the rush of "normal" life. I still miss the mountains of Colorado (Wisconsin, though beautifully green, seems awfully flat in comparison). My tendon is still sore, but the swelling has gone down, and I hope to take a short ride tomorrow (my first since last Sunday).

Tremendous thanks to Snowcatcher and Lizard for inviting me and hosting me. Extra kudos and gratitude to the Lizard, who put my bike together when I got there on Friday, then spent his Sunday evening taking it apart and packing it up again for the plane ride home.

Special thanks and hugs to all of you who generously donated funds to support me on this ride. And I am very grateful for all the cheerful and encouraging comments left by patient readers of this blog.

Thanks most of all to my dear Mr. M, who can no longer ride the way he once did, but who introduced me to serious cycling and taught me everything I know about riding: how to sit, how and when to shift, how to climb, how to descend (if only he could have given me some courage along with the excellent advice), how to brake safely at speed, how to change a tire, how to clean the tires while rolling, and much much more. I would never have made it without you, Mr. M, and I carried you in my heart the whole way. :)

55 comments:

HOOOORAY and congratulations to all! I thoroughly enjoy all your posts and cried like a baby reading to the end of this one! You and Mr M are So lucky to be mates, so lucky to have great friends Snowcatcher and Lizard plus being in colorful CO for a wonderful ride! We lived in CO for 10 yrs, been away for almost 30 so it was exciting to see your photos. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. You are the best!

Hello Sue, Another big congratulation to you, the snowcatcher and the Lizard. YOU all have accomplish a great ride and I am sure many people will benefit for your dedication to this cause. Lovely photos and thanks for sharing them with us all.. I look forward to seeing that dyed yarn.. Big Hugs Judy

I think you're great!! Let alone to ride so far.....but also take photos!!!! and not just a few! I really felt 'there' with you! What an incredible feat!I am so pleased for you ...and ,of course, Mr M for all his training. Well done! Joan

Dear Sue, I've been away from blogging and visiting for a while, but am so glad that I made my way over here to read about your finishing the biking for MS. I'm happy to see that you had such beautiful weather for the rides. How do you manage to take pictures while you are pedaling along? I twisted my back on Thursday and have had major pain since. I don't know how you managed to bike with a pulled tendon and sore saddle. :) I laughed out loud at the rawhinies. We will in in CO this summer settling my son in at college. Congrats on your accomplishment for a good cause. Hugs and blessings, Tammy

Aaaw, a lovely tribute to Mr. M Sue........ and.well done to Iris too!More wonderful pics, what a great sense of satisfaction you must have after completing your ride.Five rainbows, wow.......good you didn't get caught in the middle of the storms.Good to have Lizard and Snowcatcher to share the journey with.Have a great week,

Oh, goat! I have tears in my eyes. What an accomplishement! I hope you at least got some Peanuts when you finished. Did they have any Peanuts? Again, you and Snowcatcher Rock!!! (Well, the Lizard too. :)) Now then, you look SO cute when you are pointing at that patrolman! LOL!

I didn't see the Peanuts, but Lizard says he saw Tallulah sneaking some (supposedly for you - but as she hasn't been to the post office yet I'm wondering if she kept them for herself). Snowcatcher and Lizard DO rock and are very fun to hang out with! :)

I am deeply moved by this wonderful post. I don't thinkj I would try to ride with the tendon injury. I have no idea how you rode with that and the saddle soreness. You really did seem to take the tire troubles in stride. I am glad that you got it fixed.Those rainbows came to show appreciation for what all of you were doing. Way to go! Congrats, and thank you to you and Snowcatcher and Lizard and all the others who rode. Hope that leg heals quickly, not to mention the rawhinie.

Cool post! You have a knack for capturing pastoral scenes. I especially like your header. The ride through Green Ridge Glade and Eden into Masonville is one of my favorite scenic routes around Fort Collins. For you single gals with a thing for men in uniform, I think Mrs. M and Snowcatcher have come up with a good plan for meeting them - go tubular! :)

all those rainbows!!! surely good omens. So happy to have RIDDEN along with you . Congratulation on a great ride and accomplishment. I loved the hay baled image !!! Keep all those happy memories tucked together!!! great cause

Your last lines are so touching! It was so good to read about MS ride. See what you had to over come, what you enjoyed there, what views you saw... Lovely memories.Take care now and have happy days, perhaps with a bit of crafting.

Oh it was so much fun traveling along with you on this awesome ride. The photos were stunning and the rainbows...wow, that's a whole lot of rainbows...just God's way of letting you know He was watching over all of you.

You melted my heart with that last paragraph to your husband. That was so very sweet....I think we do indeed carry those we love in our hearts....Beautiful!

Maybe I need to write a story about the two of you instead of Worthington and Hollow's Edge.

Congratulations on completing the ride Sue,a great acumplishement! I have just read part one and two and enjoyed every bit. You will have lots of special memories to treasure for always, thanks for sharing them with us. :)

Can't tell you how much I liked this post. What an incredible experience it must have been.I think you might have faked that flat tire just to get some attention from the dishy Colorado State Patroleman! :-)

Dear Sue,I am in total awe at what you and others have done and I am literally dripping tears at this point...for all you have accomplished and for that man you love so much...and that same man who cherishes you.

Thank you so much for riding for those of us with MS! I follow Snowcatcher's blog and feel her and I are friends tho we have never met face to face. And when I read your posts I feel the same wonderful feeling reading about your BikeMS experiences that I do when I read hers. Today I sit here and wonder how I can make it possible to actually meet Snowcatcher, Lizard and you and thank you in person! My MS SHG mans the Century reststop here in mid-Michigan and along with the fruit, energy bars, water etc we make sure we have fresh homemade cookies for all the riders. What gets us is when we thank them for riding for those of us with MS and they almost always say no, thank you for being here at this reststop! God bless each and everyone of you! MS is not the best disease to have but with people like you raising money for research we have come such a long ways with treatments for this disease! The best so far is that we now have oral drugs to choose from for disease modifiers instead of just the injections and believe me I don't miss the shots at all! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

WHO AM I?

Complete Anglophile.
Captain of the local Grammar Police, but wanted by the Fashion Police for crimes against the state.
Would live in jeans if I could.
Least likely to win a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for diligence in housework.
Secret fantasy: to take a pastry chef course. No, scratch that: to live in England for a year.
Happily married for over a quarter century.